Belemnite

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: CephalapodaSmall, bullet-shaped fossils from a squid-like animal, over 70 million-years-old. They are actually only the animal’s hard rear part. They look like stone bullets among the chalk – smooth, pale grey and 2-6cm long.

Fossil finderIdentify your finds with this handy guide

Freshwater mussel

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: BivalviaPieces of dark, mud-coloured mussel shells that are over 500,000 years old. These freshwater mussels lived in the ancient rivers that formed the Cromer Forest Bed and may have been eaten by our early ancestors here. Sidestrand is a good place to look.

Brachiopods

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: BrachiopodaSmall, scallop-like fossils that lived in the tropical seas here over 70m years ago. There were once over 1200 species – some lived in cold seas, some in warm. Scientists can tell what the climate was like in the past from the brachiopods they find.

CoprolitesDung from animals that lived here hundreds of thousands of years ago. Look out for smooth, rounded or lozenge-shapes stones, sometimes thinner at one end. They could be 700,000 year old hyaena poo.

Mammoth molar

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: MammaliaMammoth teeth look like slices of very stale bread. They are about 15cm long, and ridged. You can tell what species the tooth is from by the number of ridges, so make sure you count them.

Echinoids

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: EchinoideaSmall, rounded ‘pebbles’ with five lines radiating from the top. Echinoids are sea urchins that lived here over 70m years ago when the chalk was forming. You can sometimes find whole ones among the shingle.

Flint Hand axeA rare find – hunt for black, glassy flints with sharp, chipped edges. Flint tools were made by early people by carefully chipping away at the edges of hand-sized pebbles to create a sharp blade. It took ages, so they were very precious.

Sponge

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: PoriferaFossil sponges often look like bubbly, flower-like patterns within a flint pebble. Sponge skeletons usually contain silica, the glass-like mineral which forms flint pebbles within the chalk. Even though they look like plants they are actually animals.

Vertebrate bone fragment

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: MammaliaFossil bones of animals from shrews to mammoths are hidden in the beach. Look out for stones that look like pieces of bone – porous on the inside, smooth on the outside They could be from an extinct rhino or even a hippopotamus.

Deer antler fragments

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: MammaliaLook out for ridged, cylindrical stones – they might be pieces of deer antlers. Red deer roamed here over 700,000 years ago, when the Cromer Forest Bed was forming. West Runton is one of the best places to find antler remains.

Paramoudra (pot stones)

Large flint stones with curious holes in the middle. Some scientists think these mysterious holes were formed by burrowing sea creatures – though they look for all the world as if someone has drilled the hole by hand!

SAFE & RESPONIBLE FOSSIL HUNTING MEANS:

l Don’t climb on the cliffs. It’s dangerous and can add to coastal erosion.

l Never dig into the cliffs. This is to protect the cliffs from added erosion and to stop dangerous mud or rock slides.

l Only take a few representative specimens.

l Write a label for your fossils, where and when it was found and take a picture.

l Never hammer the rocks – you need a special tool to do this.

l Leave large fossils for others to see, otherwise seek professional advice.

l Wear non-slip footwear that protects your feet (not sandals/flip-flops).

l Be aware of the tides and make sure you can’t be trapped.

l Be aware of people around you.